1. Field
One or more embodiments of the present invention relate to a system and method for acquiring moving images, and more particularly, to a system and method for capturing a plurality of images having different exposure times, synthesizing the captured images, and acquiring moving images with a wider dynamic range than that of an image pickup device, the system and method capable of adaptively changing exposure times to actively respond to scene changes.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventional image sensors are not capable of achieving a wide dynamic range. When an image, therefore, is captured in a natural environment using a conventional image sensor, the conventional image sensor may be saturated (an excessively bright image), or a weak signal (an excessively dark image) may be obtained. Consequently, a user may not be able to acquire the desired image. This problem may become worse when a high-contrast image is captured, that is, when an image is captured against a background light. Thus, details of the captured high-contrast image may be severely damaged.
Much research has been conducted to overcome such limitations of conventional image sensors. For example, a technique for improving an image sensor and a technique for processing a captured image to increase the dynamic range thereof have been suggested.
In particular, a technique for processing a captured image to increase the dynamic range thereof has been intensively researched since it can be implemented using software and without modifying a conventional image sensor. However, it is difficult to use this technique when capturing a moving image with rapid scene changes. Thus, a system and method that can capture and process a moving image with rapid scene changes is required.